The
Family

Imam Muhammad
Shirazi

Translated by Ali Adam

Translator's Foreword

Family life and
related issues such as marriage, divorce, parenthood, underage pregnancy
and abortion are areas of great discussion and dispute in the western'
world today. The facts emanating from various societies in the developed'
world show that the current state of affairs is unsustainable and
illogical and will inevitably result in the decline and self-destruction
of these societies. A prime and oft-quoted[1]
example of this is Italy where, being a Catholic country, one would expect
the birth rate to be high. However with a reproduction rate of only 1.3
children per couple it is clear that the population is not being sustained
or replaced and is dwindling. It requires a live reproduction rate of at
least 2.0 children per couple to maintain population levels each
generation. This story is repeated throughout the European Union where the
Republic of Ireland despite also experiencing a sharp drop in the
fertility' rate is the only country where rates are at generation
replacement level'.[2] At
these rates, Italy's abortion statistics at around 150,000 per yeartitle=" href="9l#_ftn3"
name=_ftnref3>[3] seem an unaffordable luxury as they do in the other
countries of the EU. The use of the term fertility rate' according to
these statistics also appears to be a little disingenuous, as it does not
take into account the number of terminations each year. The number of live
births per woman is not a valid reflection of true fertility, because a
conception subsequently terminated can also be regarded as a statistic of
fertility.

The killing of
children is deemed wrong in the Qur'an and hence in Islam:

And kill not
your children for fear of want, We will sustain them and you. Indeed, the
killing of your children is a great sin.'[4]

In many places in
the Qur'an also, evidence is brought that previous nations and generations
were brought down by their sinning:

Do they not
travel through the earth and see what was the End of those before them?
They were even superior to them in strength and in the traces (they have
left) in the land: but Allah did call them to account for their sins, and
none had they to defend them against Allah.name=_ftnref5>[5]

Hence we can see
that the concept of sin is not just an abstraction with no relevance or
effect in the real world but it is a way to the downfall of human
society.

One man who has
witnessed such a downfall in his own beloved society is Ayatollah Muhammad
Al-Shirazi, a prolific Iraqi religious scholar and authority now living
in Iran. In his book Our Life of Half a Century Ago written in
Arabic and yet to be translated, he describes the ease, simplicity and
purity of Islamic life in Iraq particularly the cities of Najaf and
Karbala 50 years ago. He then tells of a gradual decline and erosion of
basic Islamic tenets on a societal level and the adoption of eastern and
western secularisation. This experience has lead to the main theme which
runs through virtually all of Ayatollah Al-Shirazi's books namely a call
for the gradual reinstitution of Islamic tenets, laws, principles, and
commandments in all areas of life legal, economic, political, social,
and spiritual.

The
Family in Islam is one such book of Ayatollah
Al-Shirazi's. In it he highlights the problems he sees primarily in
Islamic societies today from the phenomenon of unmarried young men and
women through to birth control and contraception. He calls for a return to
the simplicity he experienced in his youth and draws our attention to the
Islamic teachings and laws in this vital area of life. As well as being a
call to the Muslim world to revert to the true teachings of the Qur'an and
the Prophet and Imams, this book can also be of use as an introduction to
others who seek some answers to the social problems of today. Islam has
detailed teachings which promise success in every area of human life on
individual and societal levels and what's more their practicality has been
historically proven despite being under constant attack from the outset
until the present day. It was not so long ago that Islam was berated for
allowing divorce, which is religiously permitted and spoken about in great
detail in the Qur'an, yet now it has been adopted by the very societies
that formerly forbade it. However picking and choosing Islamic teachings
to suit fashion or whims is not the key to success. Rather the key to
success is to implement the Islamic ideology in all areas of life by
following God's guidance for mankind.

They follow
guidance from their Lord and they are the ones who will prosper.'title=" href="9l#_ftn6"
name=_ftnref6>[6]

name=_Toc472679655>Author's Introduction

The family in
Islam' is the name of this short book, which I have written as a basic
guide to an important aspect of life, which the laws of the West in
Islamic countries have worked at destroying and continue to do so. I have
witnessed from beginning to end a half-century of family matters and what
I see latterly bears little or no resemblance to what I saw formerly. With
the adoption by Muslims of Western laws, both their religion and their
worldly life have disappeared, as Allah says in His book the Qur'an:
They lose both this world and the next: That is indeed the manifest
loss.'name=_ftnref7>1

Many Muslims, and
not least their governments, have welcomed the West and lapped up its laws
thinking that this was a path to liberation from the tyranny of the
Ottoman and Qajar empires whose flawed Islam and complete isolation after
the fall of their governments towards the West have been witnessed. They
bring to mind the words of the poet:

He who seeks refuge in Amr
on being tortured is like one seeking refuge in fire from the burning
sun'.

Or the words of
another:

I complained about Amr and when I left him and found other
neighbours I wept for Amr'.

There is no doubt
that the Ottoman and Qajar empires acted out with the range of Islam and
for this reason, the countries of Islam fell under the control of the West
and the East. But there is also no doubt that the parable for Muslims in
this respect became the example of the Ummayads and the Abbasids, as the
poet also says:

Ah would that the tyranny of the sons of Marwantitle=" href="9l#_ftn8"
name=_ftnref8>2 return to
us,

And would that the justice of the sons of Abbastitle=" href="9l#_ftn9"
name=_ftnref9>3 never
was'.

Muslims had thus
become an embodiment of one who has forgotten both the paths'. For they
were, under the Ummayads and the Abbasids, diminished in matters of
religion and of earthly life, but under the auspices of the West and the
East, they were, except in a very few circumstances, completely bereft of
both spheres. Allah alone knows how much we can bear of oppression and
repression and deviation from His laws until the correct Islamic situation
returns to us. However, we should realise that this return is not possible
without awareness. By awareness we mean awareness of the laws of Islam,
from the notion of a single community without geographical borders',
through to fraternity whereby every Muslim in any province of Islam is
treated in all his affairs as if he is from that province, and freedom,
whereby every thing is free except that which is prescribed as illegal,
through to all the other vital Islamic laws so profusive in number.

Each law in Islam
is a vital entity promoting life, as the Qur'anic verse says: 'Respond
to Allah and His messenger when He calls you to that which will enliven
you'.name=_ftnref10>4

This awareness,
however, will only occur when Muslims have come together in organisations
and political parties and groups whereby they will be in a state of utmost
realism and direction, integrity and moral rectitude. Thus Allah may
surround Muslims with His kindness and salvage them from this abyss the
like of which they have not fallen into from the first light of Islam
until this century. This is because Allah only conducts affairs by
providing the ways and means to them. As He says in His book in the story
of Dhu Al-Qarnain5', repeatedly: Then he followed a
way'name=_ftnref12>6, or as happened
to the people of Israel when they went against His commands, He made them
wander in the wilderness for forty years.

This matter
requires continuous effort and enduring patience. Do we not perceive the
Khums tax in accordance with its importance, it being mentioned in
the Qur'an once7, while the word perseverance' and its
derivatives are mentioned seventy times. In the hadith or tradition
of the prophet it is said: As a part of faith, patience has the
station of the head in relation to the body. Just as there is no good in a
body without a head, there is no good in a faith that is not accompanied
by patience'.

If then we work
towards this and call upon Allah night and day, then it is hoped that the
greatness of Muslims will be returned to them along with their
independence and autonomy. Allah alone grants success and is the sole
refuge.

The holy city of
Qum

Muhammad
Shirazi

8th Jamada II 1415
Hijra. (1995)

Section One

The
Law of Matrimony

In Creation, In Civilisations and In Religions

God8 has said in his masterful book:
'And of everything we have created pairs so that you might take
notice'.name=_ftnref15>9 The law of pairs
is so deeply intrinsic to created objects that one does not find any atom
or galaxy or anything smaller or larger than these that is not subject to
this law. If one looks to creation in all its vastness and what it holds,
from stars and planets, air and water, trees and rocks, to animals and
humans, one cannot but concede as to the integrated perfection of this
system in so far as each one complements and perfects the other. Each
proceeds according a precise and balanced system which is only violated
and traversed by humankind who were given by God the responsibility of
administering themselves after having been sent messengers and having had
the limits of behaviour laid out and the laws made clear. Mankind then
took up this responsibility but did not carry it out, as it should be -
excepting God's faithful servants - at times falling into oppressiveness,
at other times into ignorance. In the Qur'an Allah states: 'We did
indeed offer trusteeship to the heavens and the earth and the mountains
but they refused to take it being afraid thereof. But man undertook it,
though he is unjust and ignorant'.10

If one leafs
through the pages of human history, over and above the instructions of
religion, one realises that the family system, procreation, the avoidance
of inbreeding, the avoidance of marital infidelity, instability and abuse
are matters of human nature and psyche ('The fitra (intrinsic nature)
of Allah upon which He has created the people.'11). Even amongst primitives and pagans
and those who did not observe any law, from time to time their inherent
nature would shudder and would manifest itself in some form of law or in
the form of customs and traditions. It is no delusion that we turn to
custom and tradition to prove this, nor indeed to divine law which
corresponds to inherent human nature, for all that the divine law rules
necessary so does the intellect, and vice versa. The concordance and
mutual agreement of humanity over a certain matter, despite their diverse
nations, civilisations and religions, points to the deep-rootedness of
that matter in the human psyche. In this section, we will review in brief
the findings of naturalists and anthropologists as well as the religious
view in this field.

The Law of Matrimony in Creation

This vast creation
from the smallest atom to the largest galaxy comprises of tribes and
peoples based upon the system of pairs. Every element is formed from
atoms, and every atom is composed of negative electron and positive
proton. The occurrence of any imbalance in the ratios and equilibrium of
these charges will result in the instability of the atom, and the atom
will then try to return to a stable state by discharging a formidable
energy known as atomic energy. Likewise in creation there are two
complementing forces - magnetism and electricity - neither of which can
exist without the other. Then magnetism is composed of two polarities -
north and south - and electricity of two charges - positive and negative -
according to scientists.

In the Vegetable World

Allah has said in
the Qur'an: 'All praise to He who has created all the pairs, of which
grow in the earth, and of yourselves, and of that which you have no
knowledge.'12 Every plant contains a
masculine and feminine member, which upon their maturity pollination
occurs and then fruition. Granted there are types of plants and trees
which do not need this depth and complexity but they are like humans who
have two independent members, which co-operate mutually in order to
produce fruition, as is the case with the palm tree and papaya tree and
others.

In the Animal World

Animals whether
quadrupeds, bipeds or reptiles, amphibians, fish or birds, are subject to
the law of pairs. He (Allah) has said: 'Originator of the heavens and
the earth has made out of yourselves pairs and of the beasts pairs . .
. 'name=_ftnref19>13 So they strive,
because of the forces placed within them, to procreate and multiply and to
preserve their species. Mothers extend affection to their offspring after
birth or hatching and prepare the appropriate environment for their growth
and development and defend them with their lives against the dangers which
surround them.

The Law of Pairs in Human Civilisations

There is no doubt
that there are differences between humans and other creatures. Humans have
a certain freedom of choice and will whereas animals are driven and
determined. There is also no doubt that there is a difference among
peoples with regards to systems and laws to an extent which at times is
contradictory and incompatible. However it is not right that we take this
difference as being the most fitting expression of the matrimonial system.
Indeed, this synopsis does not hold true for all areas of the nature of
the family, so we will concern ourselves to the areas upon which peoples
have been in agreement from the earliest times as civilisations and
peoples. This will no doubt fulfil our purpose. Particularly regarding
marriage and childbearing, libertinism, and the system of rights.

In the following
pages, we will deal with matrimonial laws from the earliest times until
the present day.

1. The Civilisation of the Valley of the Euphrates and the Tigris
(Mesopotamia)

Matrimony was
deemed to be greatly important in the Sumerian civilisation where they
promoted marriage and repudiated celibacy. Marital infidelity was regarded
by them as a crime punishable in detailed laws by death. The two
adulterers if there were witnesses to the crime would be bound and thrown
into water to drown, and if there were no witnesses then the woman could
exonerate herself by an oath.

Amongst the
Assyrians, the matter was much the same where marital fidelity was
compulsory and infidelity was punishable either by death to both parties
by drowning, or by them being whipped, or by their hair being torn out, or